Shadows and Moonlight
by MarcusJuniusBrutus
Summary: One Shot. Remus's caring nature gets him into trouble quite often. Even as a child.


Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. Nor will they ever be, no matter how much I wish it.  
  
SHADOWS AND MOONLIGHT  
  
A stub of a candle flickered out in the soft wind, waking the small child, who was alerted to the change only by the perceptivity common to someone his age. Starting awake, he placed the book down beside him. He had, of course, fallen asleep while reading again. This was a common occurrence, for it seemed impossible for him to be separated from a book for any length of time.  
  
Remus Lupin glanced out the window, but saw that it really wasn't that late. The sun's last light was setting, and the full moon was just coming up. He sighed in relief, for that meant that his parents had probably not arrived home yet from the party they were attending, and so they hadn't found him asleep with a book open in his hands again.  
  
Smiling at the memory of the exasperated expressions they always gave him, he stretched and curled into a more comfortable position on the couch, feeling a bit too lazy at the moment to go to his own room. But there was a tingling feeling at the back of his neck that refused to let him sleep.  
  
He sighed in resignation and plodded to the kitchen in his bare feet to get some warm butterbeer. When he arrived, he found a note taped to the cabinet in his mother's handwriting, which said,  
  
'Remus-  
  
Do NOT drink any butterbeer after 6:00. It will NOT help you sleep.'  
  
Remus frowned and ran his fingers through his long tousled strands of brown hair. He was on the verge of heading back to the couch when he heard someone crying beneath the kitchen window.  
  
Leaning his head out, he saw a boy about his own age with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes filled with tears. He appeared to be in a state of delirium. Remus was instantly seized with pity, and he scrambled onto the counter then swung his legs over the window ledge and dropped the two or so yards to the ground. "What's wrong?" he asked the boy.  
  
The boy trembled at his sudden arrival, and whimpered pathetically. "I...I..."  
  
"What's your name?" he tried again.  
  
"Gilderoy." He sniffled and wiped his nose on his finely tailored robes. Remus guessed he wasn't from around this neighborhood which was, while not poor, far from rich as well.  
  
"What's wrong?" Remus repeated with inborn gentleness.  
  
Gilderoy pointed to the woods that bordered the Lupin house, and Remus took a step in that direction, peering into the darkness. A slight rustle caught his attention, and he took another step, not really sure what he was doing.  
  
Just then, a dark shadow launched itself from behind a large oak tree, straight towards Gilderoy. Remus reflexively threw himself on top of the boy, knocking both of them to the ground. The dark shape landed almost silently, and Remus, picking up his head, caught a slight glimpse of two large paws before Gilderoy scrambled from beneath him and the creature landed on top of him, almost crushing him with it's heavy weight.  
  
Remus felt its hot breath on his neck, and a slight twinge of pain, but was too panicked to think straight. Vaguely, he felt something rake across his face as well.  
  
Seconds later, there was a bright flash of light and the creature was knocked back off him. It snarled, but retreated, and Gilderoy started crying again.  
  
Mrs. Lupin lowered her wand and raced to her son. "Remus..." she sighed, then gently carried him into the house, where Mr. Lupin, a Muggle, was standing and looking extremely nervous.  
  
"Is he all right? Was he bitten?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know... His face was scratched pretty badly." Then she stopped and stared at the boy. Quickly, she raced to his room and placed him on his bed, then ran out and locked the door.  
  
"Mum?" Remus's voice sounded plaintive, even in his own ears. Awkwardly, he sat up, though his adrenaline-drained muscles urged him not to. Then he touched his shoulder, here his mother had been staring. It smart when he touched it, and his whole arm soon throbbed in pain, as were two lines across his face.  
  
He was beginning to feel a peculiar kind of headache, which was making the world spin around him.  
  
Remus drew his hand away from his shoulder, and saw it covered in blood. The sticky, sweet smell nauseated him, and he gagged violently before noticing something else.  
  
The skin on his whole body was starting to tingle like crazy. Then it stung, as though he was on fire. He tried to ignore it, and calm his trembling body, but found himself writhing on the floor, shrieking in pain.  
  
Soon, a merciful relief came in the form of what seemed to be a blackout, but it was only the next day that he learned the truth... He was a werewolf. 


End file.
